Coast Guard Medivacs 67 year-old-male off Turkish Freighter

SAN FRANCISCO – A U.S. Coast Guard crew aboard an HH-65 helicopter, from Air Station San Francisco, conducted a medical evacuation 90 miles offshore at 11:15 a.m. today, of a 67 year-old-man from the Motor Vessel Alma Ata, a 774-foot freighter.

A Coast Guard C-130 fixed wing aircraft, from Air Station Sacramento, provided additional air support during the medical evacuation, while he was transferred to Stanford Medical Center, where he remains in stable condition.
The Coast Guard received the report at 1:40 a.m. Saturday, that the chief engineer onboard the Turkish flagged vessel had suffered a possible stroke. The man was unconscious and on oxygen for over eight hours when the Rescue Coordination Center in Alameda was contacted by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, Turkey

At the time of the initial report, the Alma Ata was 852 miles west of San Francisco, en route to Balboa, Panama, and out of Coast Guard helicopter range.

The vessel was placed on a six hour communications schedule while it transited at 13 knots towards San Francisco. Once the ship was in helicopter range of about 90 miles off-shore this morning, the man was safely medevaced and flown to the medical center.